Chongwe River House

•  Complete exclusivity and flexibility
•  Own private staff on hand
•  Very family friendly
•  Special activities for children

The luxurious Chongwe River House, on the edge of the Lower Zambezi National Park, is about as exclusive as it gets in Zambia. Chongwe is a private safari house with funky design features and a sense of relaxed luxury. It is located on the Chongwe River which forms the boundary of the Lower Zambezi National Park.

This magnificent private house, with four large en suite bedrooms, is ideal for a large family party or a group of friends looking for a little privacy. Chongwe River House is completely self contained with its own private staff (hostess, ranger, chef and boatman), allowing you complete exclusivity and flexibility. You are free to, not only design your own menus, but also your game-viewing rhythm to make your Zambia safari unforgettable.

Accommodation set-up

As you walk into Chongwe River House, you enter a double volume sitting and dining area which opens out onto a large teak deck with a curvaceous swimming pool. All the furniture in the sitting room has been carved from a single fallen winterthorn tree and pebbles from the river decorate the ceilings. There’s an overwhelming sense that nature has been brought into the house. Two bedrooms are on the ground floor and two are upstairs (with fairly steep stairs). Every bedroom is individually decorated with its own en suite open flowing bathroom, semi-outdoor bath and four poster kingsize beds. From each bed there is a stunning view of the bush or the escarpment. The bathrooms have waterfall showers and exquisite basins carved from wood by the Zambian artist Eddie Mumba. From your outside baths you can soak up the mesmerizing views across the bush.

Chongwe River House activities

Sitting on the expansive deck, under a huge winterthorn tree, your view across the Zambezi escarpment is magnificent. Many animals come to the Chongwe River to drink and so the game viewing from the deck can be as good as an official safari activity.

Game viewing takes place on foot, by boat, by canoe or on night drives. As Chongwe River House has both a ranger and boatmen, the house party can sometimes split to enjoy different activities with some people heading off on a game drive whilst others enjoy some relaxing tiger fishing or sundowners, for example.

You fly into the Royal Zambezi Airstrip which is approx 15 minutes drive from Chongwe River House so there's no delay to get to your base for the next few days.

Families at Chongwe

Families with children of seven years and up are very welcome at Chongwe River House. A private safari house is perfect for a family holiday. There is no concern about what other guests are feeling, about noise levels and the games board can be left out in the main area. The Chongwe safari activities are individually tailored to your family taking your children's ages and temperament into account. Children can eat special children's meals at a time convenient to them. The Chongwe House staff are fun, friendly and competent. Often children want a ‘break’ from safari activities to stay at the house for a morning. The morning can be spent with the hostess playing games or they can help in the kitchen if they wish, making biscuits for afternoon tea or collecting eggs from the chickens. Please note that the swimming pool, for cooling off during the heat of the day, is NOT fenced at Chongwe River House.

If you like private safari houses, we recommend combining Chongwe River House with Luangwa Safari House in the South Luangwa National Park.